The following is a lightly edited transcript from our first team meeting held last Wednesday evening. There were some really excellent ideas flowing, not to mention some big news from Josh!

[19:35] Carbonel Tigereye: Hi. Nice to see you, Frank!
[19:35] Carbonel Tigereye: Hi Josh. Hi Chip!
[19:35] You: Hi!
[19:35] Frank Bogomil: hi chip, nice to meet you
[19:36] Carbonel Tigereye: Josh — Is it OK if Adri joins us? She won’t be involved on the day-to-day aspects of the project, but is interested in getting a sense of the landscape.
[19:37] RussianRiver Vallely: sure Ill add her. Same here Frank
[19:37] Frank Bogomil: have you selected your equipment so that we can get some images of the real winemaking equipment you will be using?
[19:37] RussianRiver Vallely: some images are on the basecamp site
[19:37] RussianRiver Vallely: as well as a description of the pinot making process

[19:37] Frank Bogomil: I couldn’t figureout/find the user/password
[19:38] RussianRiver Vallely: Whats Adri’s last name?
[19:38] You: there are images in the files section and a description as a comment to the ‘Design Ideas’ message
[19:38] Carbonel Tigereye: Saarinen
[19:38] Frank Bogomil: Saarinen
[19:38] RussianRiver Vallely: gotcha
[19:38] You: as in Eero Saarinen
[19:38] RussianRiver Vallely: I’ll forward you the passwords
[19:39] Frank Bogomil: Thanx, I got the URL, but it just says company , project, generic
[19:39] Carbonel Tigereye: Does anyone mind if I take a few pictures? For posterity?
[19:39] You: sure!
[19:39] RussianRiver Vallely: I may need to add Adri to the group…
[19:39] You: i’ll post the names of the aerial cameras I’ve put up too,
[19:40] You: you just need to put on a hud and your camera will go to the positions i’ve set up like the first picture on the blog
[19:41] Frank Bogomil: great
[19:42] RussianRiver Vallely: Hi Adri
[19:42] You: Hi Adri!
[19:42] Adri Saarinen: Hi, sorry for the delay!
[19:42] RussianRiver Vallely: Yes, the boy cries even as I type
[19:43] RussianRiver Vallely: Well, as I said a lot of info is already on the basecamp account
[19:43] RussianRiver Vallely: and as you can see
[19:43] Carbonel Tigereye: adri — do you have that information?
[19:43] Carbonel Tigereye: the login?
[19:43] RussianRiver Vallely: the place is brand new
[19:43] Adri Saarinen: I do, thanks Carb.
[19:44] RussianRiver Vallely: Chip posted some conceptual drawings which I think are very promising
[19:44] RussianRiver Vallely: his idea is that there will be a slope that will lead the avatar through the kiosks
[19:45] RussianRiver Vallely: One think i don;t think I mentioned Chip is that the plan is for the code to be web based, is that right Aaron and John?
[19:45] Carbonel Tigereye defers to John on all such questions.
[19:45] Frank Bogomil: yes, that will minimize SL changes and give you the most flexibility
[19:45] RussianRiver Vallely: sounds good to me
[19:45] You: sounds good
[19:46] RussianRiver Vallely: What would be the server load for such a set up…would I need to get a dedicated server?
[19:46] Frank Bogomil: We can drive it from a database which will let you add new bits anytime you want
[19:46] Frank Bogomil: no, it would be light
[19:46] RussianRiver Vallely: cool
[19:46] You: the other cool thing is you could do a web based ‘leaderboard’
[19:46] You: of who has the highest farker scores
[19:46] RussianRiver Vallely: yup
[19:46] You: nice!
[19:46] You: lots of possibilities!
[19:46] Kvasir Olbracht is Online
[19:46] Frank Bogomil: I would expect no more than perhaps 4k per transaction, maybe 50k for a complete game, peanuts
[19:46] You: a virtual cork’d!
[19:47] RussianRiver Vallely: )
[19:47] RussianRiver Vallely: We’re all very excited at Capozzi
[19:47] RussianRiver Vallely: One other exciting thing
[19:47] Carbonel Tigereye is excited as well.
[19:47] RussianRiver Vallely: last week we were mentioned in the Wall Street Journal, which was very neat
[19:48] RussianRiver Vallely: but then on Tuesday
[19:48] Carbonel Tigereye: Great!
[19:48] Adri Saarinen: That’s excellent!
[19:48] RussianRiver Vallely: I was contacted by ICM, a very large talent agency and asked to turn the blog into a book.
[19:48] Gomi Mfume is Offline
[19:48] RussianRiver Vallely: Needless to say I said yes
[19:48] Frank Bogomil: wow!
[19:48] Adri Saarinen: oh! That’s even better.
[19:48] RussianRiver Vallely: So
[19:48] You: wow!
[19:48] RussianRiver Vallely: lots of PR possibilities
[19:48] Carbonel Tigereye: So cool!
[19:48] You: did you hear the project get a mention on the Secondcast Podcast?
[19:49] You: i listened to it on my way back tonight
[19:49] RussianRiver Vallely: No. awesome!
[19:49] Carbonel Tigereye: Wow! Was this the most recent podcast with Jerry and Peter Ludlow?
[19:49] You: its about 16min from the end
[19:49] You: the one after that
[19:49] You: it just came out, i think
[19:49] Carbonel Tigereye: Sweet!
[19:50] Adri Saarinen will have to download it.
[19:50] You: yeah i just about spit out my drink
[19:50] RussianRiver Vallely: so cool. very exciting stuff
[19:50] You: I’d like to add all of you as authors to simvineyard.com - Aaron, did you get your password?
[19:50] You: Josh, I’ll resend yours
[19:51] RussianRiver Vallely: k
[19:51] Carbonel Tigereye is checking his inbox for the password.
[19:51] Adri Saarinen: I think you’ll do very well with the project as a means of PR. I think it can carry through and hopefully the game will help you turn SL residents into wine /and/ Capozzi fans.
[19:52] Adri Saarinen: And from fans into customers, of course.
[19:52] RussianRiver Vallely: I sure hope so. Certainly don’t want them to think we’re just throwing a couple buildings up and calling it a branding excercise
[19:52] Frank Bogomil: yes! are you going to have some tie-in on the label?
[19:52] You: ooh that’s interesting, josh
[19:52] You: take the best score from the game
[19:52] You: and MAKE it!!
[19:53] RussianRiver Vallely: well the label is still getting finalized…lol I wonder if we could pull that of
[19:53] Adri Saarinen: Second Life Special Reserve
[19:53] Frank Bogomil: yes, you could also have a picture of the virtual vineyard on the back for example
[19:53] Carbonel Tigereye smiles.
[19:53] RussianRiver Vallely: Why the hell not?
[19:54] RussianRiver Vallely: It would depend on the demand, or the number of people that actually play the game, but I dont se why we couldn’t do a custom label
[19:54] Adri Saarinen: Talk about blended reality.
[19:54] You: the player could be incorporated as well
[19:54] You: ‘fermented reality’
[19:54] Frank Bogomil: You could also have things like a contest on when you pick, complete with weather reports BRIX etc.
[19:55] RussianRiver Vallely: Frank: so this data could be streamed in from one of the weather data collectors?
[19:55] You: the game becomes a competition, with that as the prize
[19:55] Adri Saarinen: lots of things to get people involved, and then they’ll feel like they in some hand in it.
[19:55] Frank Bogomil: yes, we could pull from NOAH
[19:55] RussianRiver Vallely: there are also local ones, near our vineyard
[19:55] Frank Bogomil: great, that would be nice
[19:56] Frank Bogomil: NOAA (actually)
[19:57] You: the same feed that aimee weber’s project is using can be used by others too?
[19:57] Adri Saarinen: well, any feed can be parsed and brought in.
[19:57] RussianRiver Vallely: CIMIS are the stations I was referring to if you want to google them.
[19:58] You: all this new stuff blows my mind - i want to make architecture that is shaped by and responds to it, but don’t really know the first bit about it from a coding perspective
[19:58] Carbonel Tigereye agrees. His mind is blown too.
[19:58] RussianRiver Vallely: )
[19:59] RussianRiver Vallely: I do want to thank you all for agreeing to help out with the project. I’m know I’m getting far more of your time and talent than you are being compensated for and I really do appreciate it.
[20:00] Adri Saarinen is going to be firm on those cases of wine, don’t worry.
[20:00] Frank Bogomil: hehe
[20:00] RussianRiver Vallely: Chip: when do you think you’ll be able to start terraforming. ballpark is fine
[20:00] You: so i’m not the only one accepting payment in liquid form?
[20:00] RussianRiver Vallely: Wine for everyone!
[20:01] Frank Bogomil: I’d like a RL tour at some point as well
[20:01] You: based on the sketch josh i can start on friday afternoon
[20:01] RussianRiver Vallely: done
[20:01] RussianRiver Vallely: Friday, great
[20:01] You: i think once the project is launched a meet-up might be in order
[20:01] Carbonel Tigereye wishes he still lived in the Bay Area.
[20:01] Adri Saarinen: We had to assure John/Frank before we did the proposal that it was California wine and not any second rate Texas wine.
[20:05] Frank Bogomil: so what is the best tool to read mmap files?
[20:06] Carbonel Tigereye: Mindjet
[20:06] Frank Bogomil: freemind doesn’t seem to handle them
[20:06] Carbonel Tigereye: It’s a convoluted conversion process from mindjet to xml to freemind. To be honest, I haven’t been able to make it work yet.
[20:06] Carbonel Tigereye: But it must be possible.
[20:07] Adri Saarinen: so, what are our next steps here?
[20:07] RussianRiver Vallely: was everyone able to log in to basecamp or should I re send the password?
[20:07] RussianRiver Vallely: also
[20:07] Carbonel Tigereye: i’m there.
[20:08] Adri Saarinen is able to get into basecamp, yes
[20:08] Adri Saarinen: as far as making this SL vineyard work.
[20:08] Frank Bogomil: I’m in
[20:08] RussianRiver Vallely: well I think Chip needs to get the terraforming straight first
[20:08] RussianRiver Vallely: but you guys tell me. Im a noob in SL
[20:08] You: right
[20:09] You: we also want to take the mindmap and work out how that is going to work from the perspective of the game
[20:09] You: then think about the interface that will make that happen
[20:09] RussianRiver Vallely: yes…the mindmap. it haunts me. need to finish it
[20:09] You: and the architectural container that will frame and serve it
[20:10] You: for instance, how many of the game elements would take place in a cellar?
[20:10] RussianRiver Vallely: well
[20:10] RussianRiver Vallely: all except the pick of the grapes if we are going to be precise
[20:10] RussianRiver Vallely: but really
[20:10] RussianRiver Vallely: I’d like to let you design a bit more freely
[20:10] You: sure
[20:11] You: i’d like to pull the process apart a bit, spatially
[20:11] Frank Bogomil: it would be nice if we had different stations….. could we break up the cellar steps a bit, like perhaps explode the cellar
[20:11] You: and distribute the statons of the game
[20:11] RussianRiver Vallely: Frank: absolutely
[20:11] Carbonel Tigereye: like a par course
[20:11] You: i’d like to literally have pipes, tanks, etc. running all along the n-s axis
[20:11] RussianRiver Vallely: )
[20:11] You: precisely
[20:11] Frank Bogomil: so perhaps do it as the 4 corners of the cellar in the the elbows of a cross
[20:12] Frank Bogomil: progress would be circular then and you could start over
[20:12] RussianRiver Vallely: I’ll leave the layout to Chip, but the idea of using station unattached to some building is intriguing
[20:13] Frank Bogomil: it would be nice if it was signaled somehow that you were in a building though….
[20:13] Frank Bogomil: so that when you visit you aren’t surprised
[20:13] RussianRiver Vallely: good point
[20:13] You: have a look at the sketches and let me know what you think
[20:13] Frank Bogomil: I know of several places that do the crush outdoors or even have stainless steel vats with temperature jackets outside
[20:14] You: interesting
[20:14] You: a combination of covered/open/enclosed spaces might provide a nice variety of spaces
[20:14] You: if we established the number of stations required
[20:15] RussianRiver Vallely: I think the pictures of Kistler’s operation best mirrors our gravity flow design. But again, thats the real world and it is just a guide
[20:15] You: the kind of ‘interface’ the visitor would be interacting with
[20:15] You: they could begin to be sketched out
[20:17] Frank Bogomil: I can mock an question interface and some database connectivity and attach it just to placards with pictures
[20:17] Adri Saarinen: It would probably be valuable to play thorugh a few ‘mini games’ in other contexts, as well, to see what people expect.
[20:18] RussianRiver Vallely: Frank…so that would allow you and chip to work on the project at the same time then?
[20:18] Carbonel Tigereye: yes. i agree that exploring some mini-games would be a good reference point.
[20:18] Frank Bogomil: right, if we decided on the stages
[20:18] You: frank’s suggestion is great
[20:19] RussianRiver Vallely: well I think I have the stages pretty well mapped out. It is the details that I’m still working on
[20:19] You: and adri’s as well
[20:19] You: we
[20:19] RussianRiver Vallely: For instance. I’d really like it if getting a 98 point wine isn’t trivial
[20:19] You: we’d have both process and visual reference points
[20:19] Frank Bogomil: let’s get something simple and then build on it
[20:20] RussianRiver Vallely: sounds good.
[20:20] RussianRiver Vallely: the basic proces then is:
[20:20] RussianRiver Vallely: pick
[20:20] Frank Bogomil: a combination of luck and a “budget” might work… if you blow your abstract budget you get dinged in some way
[20:20] RussianRiver Vallely: sort
[20:20] RussianRiver Vallely: destem
[20:20] You: could a weather feed add to the probabilities?
[20:20] RussianRiver Vallely: cold soak
[20:20] RussianRiver Vallely: press
[20:20] RussianRiver Vallely: barrel
[20:21] RussianRiver Vallely: blend
[20:21] RussianRiver Vallely: bottle
[20:22] RussianRiver Vallely: I thought about a virtual budget, or a stamina cost. some way to impose costs on each process
[20:22] RussianRiver Vallely: but I’m not coder
[20:22] Frank Bogomil: for blending do you see repeating the earlier steps and maintaining a collection of barrels?
[20:22] RussianRiver Vallely: I like crafting in some MMos though and thats basically my model
[20:22] Adri Saarinen: Which MMOs are you thinking of, Josh?
[20:23] RussianRiver Vallely: Vanguard Saga of Heros has a very nice one. Still in beta though and I havent checked it out in a while
[20:23] Carbonel Tigereye: EQ2 has a great crafting process.
[20:23] Frank Bogomil: I think a virtual budget is a good idea, but let them blow it out… and then label as “frugal, good buy, and pricy” for example
[20:23] Carbonel Tigereye: In fact, when I first read the specs, it came immediately to mind.
[20:23] Frank Bogomil: that way the big winner would be the frugal 100!
[20:24] RussianRiver Vallely: Blending - I have no idea how to handle. its a dark art with almost no science behind it
[20:24] Frank Bogomil: perhaps we should skip blending for now… I think I could handle it, but it could be too complicated and put people off
[20:24] RussianRiver Vallely: ooo make it hard )
[20:25] Adri Saarinen: well, we don’t want to make it too frustrating
[20:25] You: on secondcast christiano midnight refered to the game as ‘wine tycoon’
[20:25] RussianRiver Vallely: lol
[20:25] Carbonel Tigereye grins.
[20:25] Frank Bogomil: the idea would be to build multiple proto-wines with their own qualities and then let people blend in percents and do that to the qualities to lend balance
[20:26] Frank Bogomil: perhaps an add-on for people who go through the process a number of times
[20:26] RussianRiver Vallely: if you could make those proto-blends based on three key peices of chemisry, TA pH and Brix, I think that would be doable and sufficiently complex
[20:26] Frank Bogomil: I was hoping that we could convert those post pick to some others which would have more of the “tasters” tone
[20:27] HeartPaws Poultry is Online
[20:27] Frank Bogomil: like tanic, red vs. black fruit, thick vs. thin, hot, etc
[20:27] RussianRiver Vallely: sure
[20:27] RussianRiver Vallely: the problem is
[20:27] Frank Bogomil: Then the blending would concentrate on just say, acid, fruit and tannin
[20:28] Frank Bogomil: which are the big three of simple tasting (e.g. state fairs)
[20:28] RussianRiver Vallely: those components are linked to more complex peices of chemistry like esters and phenolics. There is no real direct relationship with TA etc
[20:28] Frank Bogomil: that is where the voodoo comes in
[20:28] Frank Bogomil: and the luck for the player
[20:28] Carbonel Tigereye is staring at his glass of wine in a whole new way.
[20:28] RussianRiver Vallely: gotcha
[20:29] Frank Bogomil: we could add things facing in and have that have some relationship
[20:29] Frank Bogomil: or how hot and long the growning season was
[20:29] RussianRiver Vallely: man thats sounds great. is it doable though?
[20:29] You: could all of this data also be exported to the web, along with the score - such that in addition to a ‘leaderboard’ you could actually name and provide descriptions of each user’s end result?
[20:30] Frank Bogomil: I’ll have to mock something up… if I can get mindjet.com to cooperate
[20:31] RussianRiver Vallely: well I’m stoked on all the ideas )
[20:31] Frank Bogomil: this will be fun (just like a good glass of wine should be (Adri and Aaron!))
[20:32] RussianRiver Vallely: Will Basecamp work for you guys as a info hub?
[20:32] You: I’m very much looking forward to working with all of you!
[20:32] RussianRiver Vallely: an
[20:32] Adri Saarinen: We actually use it ourselves.
[20:32] RussianRiver Vallely: perfect
[20:32] You: I use it on other projects too
[20:32] Frank Bogomil: chip: yes, we could add all this to the website
[20:33] You: the entire chat log? or should we edit?
[20:33] You: happy to do either
[20:33] Adri Saarinen: I’m sure that this will be an excellent project for all of us.
[20:33] Adri Saarinen is fine with the chat log being taken.
[20:33] Carbonel Tigereye agrees with adri.
[20:33] RussianRiver Vallely: I’m a bit paranoid, but I guess I have no problem
[20:34] You: …and are we thinking of just adding to basecamp or to simvineyard?
[20:34] RussianRiver Vallely: BC for sure. Ill want to review this Im sure
[20:34] You: perhaps the entire transcript to basecamp, a summary update to simvineyard
[20:35] RussianRiver Vallely: My concern is mainly in kind of neutering the game by giving away too much. But that would require people actually paying attention at this early point
[20:36] You: i guess that’s another question josh, i don’t want to post anything on simvineyard that anyone isn’t comfortable with
[20:37] Adri Saarinen: well, it will never die on the ‘net if it’s ever public, but people would have to have the right search terms.
[20:37] You: ok
[20:37] You: just wanted to confirm that with you
[20:37] You: i was listening to the boing boing podcast where they intereviewed chris anderson from wired
[20:38] You: when he wrote ‘the long tail’ he opened the entire process up
[20:38] You: generating tremendous community contributions, insight, as well as an instant market for the book upon its launch
[20:38] RussianRiver Vallely: I was one of the readers of his blog. it was great
[20:38] RussianRiver Vallely: but
[20:39] RussianRiver Vallely: what about sekret sauce and all that?
[20:39] RussianRiver Vallely: )
[20:39] Kvasir Olbracht is Online
[20:39] RussianRiver Vallely: I guess its from playing MMOs
[20:39] You: i was thinking the same
[20:39] RussianRiver Vallely: if you know the mechanics
[20:39] RussianRiver Vallely: the game loses a certain appeal
[20:39] Frank Bogomil: The devil is in the details, I don’t think we have given it away yet
[20:39] RussianRiver Vallely: then Im fine with posting it
[20:39] Frank Bogomil: ther is always magic in the unknown… so we keep some secrets
[20:40] Carbonel Tigereye smiles.
[20:40] You: the idea that a good portion of it is also up to chance, is also very interesting
[20:40] You: no two times going through will be the same
[20:40] RussianRiver Vallely: …and irritating. Just like RL
[20:41] Frank Bogomil: or that the set of options is very large… how hot is hot, how wet is wet
[20:41] Adri Saarinen: replayability. And a way to keep people coming back.
[20:41] Adri Saarinen: Hosting events here wouldn’t be a bad idea, either
[20:41] You: but i love the idea that they can take a case of wine away with them and rez it on their own table
[20:41] You: perhaps once rezzed
[20:41] RussianRiver Vallely: I agree Adri
[20:41] You: its only temporary
[20:41] You: it goes away
[20:41] You: and they have to come back to make more
[20:41] Frank Bogomil: then they get an empty bottle
[20:41] Frank Bogomil: with a label and a link to the RL web site
[20:41] RussianRiver Vallely: heh. Bottles can have charges
[20:41] Carbonel Tigereye: wineries in california often have great jazz performances.
[20:42] Adri Saarinen: I know some great performers in here SL.
[20:42] RussianRiver Vallely: That would be fantastic
[20:42] You: i was thinking josh that the gazebo
[20:42] RussianRiver Vallely: Chip is designing something up on a hill somewhere
[20:42] You: could be expanded a bit
[20:42] You: exactly
[20:43] You: and be not just for weddings, etc. but performances as well
[20:43] You: the mission hill winery near kelowna has a nice amphitheater
[20:43] RussianRiver Vallely: Do you think that it would be compelling to have something like that out here? Do people really come?
[20:43] You: yeah
[20:43] You: that’s the challenge
[20:43] Adri Saarinen: to live music events?
[20:43] Carbonel Tigereye: oh yes.
[20:43] Adri Saarinen: they sell out
[20:43] Carbonel Tigereye: one of the best draws in sl.
[20:44] Adri Saarinen: ’sell out’ in that you can’t get into the regions, they’re full
[20:44] RussianRiver Vallely: interesting
[20:44] Adri Saarinen: will people come for the wine? That’s a different challenge.
[20:44] You: it would just be a matter of making the venue available
[20:44] RussianRiver Vallely: what makes a “good” venue in SL?
[20:44] You: having a mechanism to look after the ongoing programming
[20:44] You: usually the big venues are located at the corner of four sims
[20:45] Adri Saarinen: but I think with a compelling game and tie ins with your real wine and your blog, it could be a lot of fun and very interesting for SL residents.
[20:45] You: that way the most number of avatars can be in the same event space
[20:45] Adri Saarinen: but even a single sim event space is good for regular events.
[20:45] RussianRiver Vallely: That would blow my budget all to hell )
[20:45] Adri Saarinen: Check out Muse Isle, the Roc, and Menorca.
[20:45] You: if you join the ‘live music enthusiasts’ group you’ll get numerous event notices - there are tons of them
[20:45] Adri Saarinen: they’re all music venues
[20:45] You: and all popular, as Adri mentioned
[20:47] Adri Saarinen has seen Menorca full to the hilt at 104 avatars
[20:47] You: and i totally agree with adri, one sim is fine too
[20:47] Adri Saarinen: Which requires Linden intervention, btw. The ‘hardware limit’ is 100
[20:47] Carbonel Tigereye:
[20:48] Adri Saarinen is apparently too excited to keep her feet on the ground.
[20:48] RussianRiver Vallely: Well I’m a bit tired from the Halloween festivities. You all mind if we call it a night?
[20:48] Frank Bogomil: hey, I am timing out here… my daughter is refusing to sleep… I am going to put together a mindmap of some of my thoughts and maybe we can agree on the stages
[20:49] You: great
[20:49] Carbonel Tigereye is dealing with a grumpy cat.
[20:49] RussianRiver Vallely: good stuff
[20:49] You: in the meantime I’ll start terraforming
[20:49] RussianRiver Vallely: thank you all for coming. was very informative
[20:49] You: some fantastic ideas here!
[20:49] Carbonel Tigereye: this was great! very exciting!
[20:49] Adri Saarinen: Great to meet you Chip, Josh
[20:50] You: likewise!
[20:50] RussianRiver Vallely: aye
[20:50] RussianRiver Vallely: feel free to call anytime with questions etc
[20:50] Carbonel Tigereye: nice to meet you both.
[20:50] Frank Bogomil: yes, thanx
[20:50] RussianRiver Vallely: otherwise Ill see you on basecamp
[20:50] Frank Bogomil: ok, bye
[20:50] Carbonel Tigereye: bye
[20:50] Adri Saarinen waves.
[20:51] RussianRiver Vallely is Offline